MONTREAL - Jim Cuddy and his Blue Rodeo bandmates were "stunned, very pleased and grateful" to win a Governor General's Performing Arts Award on Wednesday.

"We're not used to participating in this world, the world of high honours. We're used to our world of concerts, Junos, and this is something entirely different," the singer-songwriter said in a telephone interview from Toronto shortly after the accolade was announced.

Metis actor/singer Tom Jackson and British Columbia actor Brent Carver were also recognized with the lifetime artistic achievement award as were three Quebecers — actress Janine Sutto, dancer and teacher Anik Bissonnette and choreographer and dancer Louise Lecavalier.

Actor Albert Schultz, the founding artistic director of the acclaimed Soulpepper Theatre Co. in Toronto, was recognized with the National Arts Centre Award and Manitoban arts booster Jean Giguere was given the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for voluntarism.

The laureates were announced at ceremonies in Montreal, Toronto, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., Calgary and Winnipeg. They'll be celebrated at a gala at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on May 10.

Founded in 1984, Blue Rodeo has sold more than four million records and won an unprecedented 11 Juno awards.

Cuddy told The Canadian Press the award is particularly meaningful because it is for the whole band.

"It's for a lifetime of work so it really takes in all the members that have played in Blue Rodeo," he said. "I think the impact is it's kind of like accolades for having lasted and there's nothing wrong with that.

"I think that's quite something in the entertainment world, to feel you're still relevant 30 years after you started."

Blue Rodeo has always enjoyed touring and Cuddy said the band has "logged a lot of miles" in its three decades.

"It is always a balance between seeming like an endless road and a very brief journey," he said of their careers.

There have been enormous changes in the music business since they started, Cuddy noted, recalling a meeting years ago where he was told cassette tapes were eating into the sales of record albums.

"One of the main differences is when we started, the idea of a Canadian band getting a fair shot or being popular in its own country, let alone the world, was pretty, pretty remote," Cuddy said.

"Now I think (Canadian) bands have started feeling like the whole world is there for them to conquer."

Reached at a Calgary studio where he is working on a new album, Jackson said he was "lightheaded" because of the honour.

"I'm very excited," he said cheerfully in a telephone interview. "I feel like a 16-year-old kid that just fell in love."

Jackson, a singer-songwriter, actor, producer and humanitarian who works to raise money for food banks, said his work in the arts has given him a chance to engage in social change.

"For me, it gives validation to what I've been doing all these years with respect to being accepted as an artist because even after all these years I don't really feel like I'm part of the mainstream," he said.

Jackson hopes it inspires others to take on challenges.

"Believe me, as a First Nations artist, you need to work twice as hard to get half as far but the reward is enormous."

Jackson is encouraged by Canada's arts scene these days, calling the country an "incubator" of creativity.

Janine Sutto, an icon in the Quebec arts scene, accepted her award in Montreal with dignified grace.

"I never sought this," said the 92-year-old in an interview. "This was never my goal but I am very happy."

She reflected that she had been fortunate to work with a succession of talented people during a lengthy career that began when she was 18 and seen many of the great changes that shaped the theatre world of today.

Sutto, who was also a teacher, said the arts are in good hands with the youthful crop that is emerging.

"I tell the young I have lots and lots of confidence in them," she said brightly in an interview. "The future looks wonderful."

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